Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil

Just like the ambiguity of the classic Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man" (alien cookbook or instructions to obey?), the line "We got your friend" causes a big misunderstanding in the comic gorefest Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil. A film festival darling, the movie features an Appalachian backwoods battle between archenemies: hillbillies and preppy college kids. Dale (Tyler Labine) and Tucker (Alan Tudyk) buy a cabin in the woods as a vacation home and bring in all sorts of heavy equipment (chainsaws, axes, a wood chipper) to fix it up. They cross paths with a bunch of kids camping for the weekend and inadvertently startle one of the girls. When she faints and falls in the lake, they gallantly rescue her and set out to return her to her friends, who instead believe she's been kidnapped by homicidal backwoods people, a la Deliverance. When a few students inadvertently off themselves in failed rescue attempts, Dale and Tucker assume the college students have a suicide pact and try to protect the girl. The action is a zany blend of bruising slapstick and grotesque parody. Much of the humor comes from profound misunderstandings and defying expectations, i.e. instead of a leering brute, Dale is a trivia whiz who is too shy to talk to women, and every time he tries, he bumbles his way into something cryptic and horrifying. It's both funny and a refreshing take on stereotypes of hillbillies. Tickets $7 general admission, $6 students/seniors, $5 Zeitgeist members. — Will Coviello